When the margin of victory can be decided by 1/1000 of a second, it’s natural to feel a little jumpy, said Tyler Roberts, a 13-year old gunslinger from Painesville Township.“You get kind of shaky and nervous and you sweat a lot,” said Tyler, who showed no signs of such anxiety while awaiting his next chance to shoot Saturday at the Northcoast National Gunslingers Championship in Mentor.“We came here last year and me and my dad ended up trying it and we really liked it,” said Tyler, an eight-grader at John R. Williams Junior High School in Painesville Township.“I like guns and I’ve always been into cowboys. It’s a real fun sport.” The annual fast-draw tournament began Friday and concludes today. Some of the fastest Western-style six-gun shooters are expected to compete, with award points going towards the sport’s overall national championship. All of this weekend’s activities are being held at Gunny’s Hall, 8720 Twinbrook Drive in Mentor.Spectators can try their hand at supervised quick draw shooting from noon to 6p.m. today following the day’s competition, said Ron Paul Duning of Willowick, the event’s organizer. This is the 23rdyear for the Northcoast Nationals, which has become on of the most important and “talked about shoots in the country,” Duning said.Today’s event is the final competition for the 2006 Northcoast Nationals top gun honors. It will run from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. The public is invited to watch any portion of the competition for free.

Duke Bonnett, a participant from Union and longtime member of the Ohio Fast Draw Association, said competitions draw people from all walks of life, from salespeople to doctors, lawyers and chief executive officers in the corporate world. “Some are more naturally talented than others,” Bonnett said. “It’s as much mental as it is physical. It requires a great deal of concentration and focus in order to get a good reaction time".Competitors only use wax bullets powered by a shot shell primer, no powder, or full powder blanks, according to association guidelines. All wax bullets are fired at a stationary steel target and all blanks are fired at a balloon target.Safety is always a priority in fast draw competitions, as participants do not use live ammunition, Bonnett said.

Bonnett is quite proud that to his knowledge, there has never been a serious accident in a competition.